A LEGENDARY IC TITLE MATCH

It’s been promised for weeks: Aleister Black has a new tag team to dominate the GAW scene. Tonight, we finally learned who it was. Former GAW champions who hold five titles between them, Bobby Lashley and Shinsuke Nakamura, have joined up with the House. For their first match they took on the Lucha Brothers and they showed Black’s threats over the weeks are more than just talk. Their tag team cohesion was on another level, Lashley’s power and Nakamura’s speed and finesse combined for a beautiful display of brutality that even the legendary Lucha Bros couldn’t keep up with. Lashley trapped Rey Fenix is a vicious full nelson while Nakamura played defense against Penta to lock up the win for the debuting duo.

Backstage, Davey Richards talks with his old friend and tag team partner Eddie Edwards and it seems Richards becomes more and more frustrated with Will Ospreay as the days go by. Those two will certainly have another match to settle their grievances. Elsewhere, Adam Cole caught up with Roderick Strong and promised he and the Black and Gold would not gang up and attack him as they’ve done with so many others already. He also seemed to extend the olive branch for after they have their world title match. Whether you believe Cole’s intentions are true is up to you.

Sonya Deville returns to action against Kairi Sane in a US Title #1 contenders match. Ember Moon was watching along, confident as ever, though maybe there will be cause for concern after what Deville did to the beloved Pirate Princess. An Insane Elbow wasn’t enough and Deville mashed Sane with a huge slam to win the match. Dakota Kai is hellbent on reclaiming the World Title, she even stole the belt from champion Kacy Catanzaro and is parading around as if she won it. Unfortunately, the reality is Kai is still one of the best wrestlers in the world and she showed it against the Queen of Queens Taya Valkyrie. Valkyrie tried everything she could but Kai was too much for her, showing off her tremendous athleticism with her aptly-named Team Kick finisher. After the match we got some announcements for what will be a great Veterans Day show on November 11.

In the main event, Matt Riddle puts the Intercontinental Title on the line for the first time against the Black and Gold’s Pete Dunne. Following in the tradition of IC title matches so far this season, this contest was the best of the night and one of the best of Riddle’s GAW career. Dunne tried absolutely everything: X-Plexes, Bitter Ends, joint manipulation, submission holds- nothing was working against the House of Black’s first recruit. Meanwhile, Riddle’s methodical MMA-style attack wore Dunne down and set him up for the devastating Twister submission. Riddle hung on to the title in a truly epic war.